


The Tattoo

by Pembrooke330



Category: Archie Comics, Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Betty Cooper - Freeform, Cabin, F/M, Hot Tub, Jeronica, Riverdale, Veronica Lodge - Freeform, archie andrews - Freeform, hot tub kiss, jeronica kiss, jughead - Freeform, jughead and veronica kiss, jughead jones - Freeform, lake house, veronica - Freeform, veronica tattoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 10:33:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13715838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pembrooke330/pseuds/Pembrooke330
Summary: “Of course it meant nothing.” She said as she glanced at Jughead before training her gaze back on Veronica.“I mean, if you kissed Jughead and told me that it didn’t mean anything, I’d believe you.”Jughead looked at his girlfriend curiously. She was definitely hard pressed to prove that kissing Archie had been nothing but a thoughtless moment. But Jughead couldn’t help but feel as though Betty was a bit too anxious to prove that the kiss was meaningless.He looked over at Veronica who had a devious grin on her face as she locked eyes with Jughead.“Okay, then. Maybe we should do that. You know, just to prove your point. What do you say, Jug? Care to be a willing participant?”





	The Tattoo

Jughead wasn’t sure he’d ever been in a hot tub before. If he had, he couldn’t remember when, but he quickly realized how much he enjoyed it. It was nearly impossible to not feel relaxed in the hot, bubbling water. The tendrils of steam curled around him, willing him to loosen up his tensed muscles and enjoy the vacation that he’d been reluctant to go on in the first place.

It didn’t hurt that the expensive beer he was drinking was contributing to his tranquil state. He looked over at Archie, whose eyes were closed, obviously enjoying his own need to unwind.

Jughead took a swig of his beer as he heard the girls excited voices approaching, finally joining their guys after taking far too long to figure out which bathing suits they were going to wear.

He smiled when he looked up to see Betty, holding her frilly margarita and smiling that sweet smile as she stepped into the gurgling water. He appreciated how well her one-piece, black swimsuit fit her taut body and he wouldn’t have  minded if they’d been able to have the hot tub all to themselves as Betty took a seat next to him, giving him a quick peck on his cheek before taking a sip of her drink.

He noticed her glance over at Archie, whose eyes were now open and staring straight ahead intensely with a smirk on his face. Jughead followed Archie’s gaze to see Veronica standing there on the side of the hot tub, looking like sex personified in her slinky, black one piece. It looked a lot like Betty’s, but different. Very different.

Jughead swallowed hard and shifted in his seat as Veronica pulled up her inky black hair into a loose ponytail. He’d never seen her wear her hair like that before and he was mesmerized by how he could see every perfect curve of her beautiful face. His pulse sped up unexpectedly and he felt a tremendous feeling of guilt from it as he looked over at Betty, who he hadn’t noticed had been watching him while Veronica entered the hot tub.

He did his best to erase the guilty look on his face as he leaned in to give Betty a kiss on the lips, but her mouth was stiff against his, as if she had known exactly what had been going through his mind when it came to her unabashedly sexy best friend in a bathing suit.

“What are you drinking, Ronnie?” Archie asked as Veronica moved through the water and over to her redheaded beau.

“Vodka. Want some?”

Archie nodded as Veronica took a sip. She covered Archie’s mouth with her own, letting him taste the vodka directly from her lips, and that’s when Jughead noticed the little tattoo on the back of her neck.

It was the most delicate tattoo he’d ever seen, and he’d seen a lot of tattoos as a member of the Serpents. He even had his own. But his crown-wearing snake was a stark contrast to the small dove on Veronica’s neck.

He stared at it as Veronica and Archie continued to kiss, whispering inaudible things to each other in between each clash of their lips.

Jughead wondered what the tattoo meant, what significance it had to Veronica. He couldn’t help but be curious, because discovering what the significance of her ink meant was a window into learning more about who Veronica Lodge was. And as much as he hated to admit it, he wanted to know her, to understand what made her tick.

From what Jughead knew of the symbolic nature of doves, they were often used to portray love and peace, or had something to do with sending a message. Typically to someone who had passed away.

He knew Veronica had lost a grandfather not long ago, but he didn’t know for how long she’d had the tattoo since he’d never seen her wear her hair up before. Wanting to ask her was right on the tip of his tongue, but he refused. He was afraid he’d be too transparent, and that was something he couldn’t allow.

Suddenly, he felt Betty’s hand on his arm.

“Why are you staring at them?” She asked, obviously irritated by Jughead’s lack of attention on her.

Jughead shrugged.

“I just wonder if maybe we should leave and let them be alone.” Jughead replied, finding it harder and harder to watch how Veronica’s wet skin glistened as the strings of lights around the pool deck bounced off of her, giving her an ethereal glow. He had an incredible urge to know what her skin might feel like under his fingertips.

Veronica quickly turned around.

“No, no. Stay. The night has just begun.”

The four sat together, talking casually and sipping their drinks. Jughead noticed that the girls were becoming a bit more giggly, and he and Archie were becoming a bit more rowdy as they joked about Hiram Lodge’s scary demeanor and sketchy business dealings.

“The first time Veronica kissed me in front of him, I thought I was going to piss myself.” Archie said with a boisterous laugh.

Veronica smiled as she rolled her eyes.

“You know, speaking of kissing, we haven’t yet talked about the whole kiss thing that happened between you and Ms. Cooper over here.” Veronica said with a sly grin as she motioned towards Betty.

Their relaxed, good time in the hot tub suddenly got serious at the mention of the touchy subject, and Veronica immediately noticed.

“What? We can all sit here, once and for all, and agree that the kiss meant  _nothing,_  right?” She asked as she looked around at all of them.

Jughead could do nothing but look straight ahead. It wasn’t like him to ever be caught off guard, but he wasn’t sure what he should say or do at that point.

Finally Betty piped up.

“Of course it meant nothing.” She said as she glanced at Jughead before training her gaze back on Veronica.

“I mean, if you kissed Jughead and told me that it didn’t mean anything, I’d believe you.”

Jughead looked at his girlfriend curiously. She was definitely hard pressed to prove that kissing Archie had been nothing but a thoughtless moment. But Jughead couldn’t help but feel as though Betty was a bit too anxious to prove that the kiss was meaningless.

He looked over at Veronica who had a devious grin on her face as she locked eyes with Jughead.

“Okay, then. Maybe we should do that. You know, just to prove your point. What do you say, Jug? Care to be a willing participant?”

Jughead looked over at Betty, who looked like she was going to be sick but gave him a slight nod, giving him the go ahead. He then glanced at Archie, who looked so incredibly guilt-ridden that Jughead immediately felt the need for retribution when it came to his best friend.

“Sure.” Jughead said confidently as he got up from his spot in the hot tub and followed Veronica out of the warm water and into the cool, night air.

“Where are you two going?” Betty asked abruptly. The sound of regret echoed in her voice.

Veronica turned, still grinning that sly grin.

“Oh, you wanted us to do it in front of you two?” She asked.

But she didn’t wait for an answer.

“Sure, we can do that.”

Veronica turned to Jughead, and he didn’t miss the look of uneasiness in her eyes as she hesitantly placed her hands on either side of his face, holding him in place for the inevitable liplock. She waited a few brief seconds, as if she was waiting for someone to stop her. But no one did, not even Jughead. And his heart slammed against his chest as she stood up on her tiptoes and brought him down to her.

Veronica’s lips pressed against his softly at first, but when she realized he was all in, with no intention of backing out, she kissed him with more fervency, lustfully, as if she had suddenly discovered just how much she was enjoying his mouth on hers.

And in perfect timing with each other, their lips parted as her tongue lightly teased his just enough for him to tease hers back. They weren’t supposed to take it that far. He wasn’t supposed to be wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her to him so that her flushed skin was now against his. They weren’t supposed to be sighing into each other’s mouths, turned on by the sound their lips made against each other’s when they briefly parted before going back in for more. They weren’t supposed to be so breathless and eager that Veronica’s hands were now in his damp hair as he took one of his fingers and traced the back of her neck where he’d seen her tattoo.

It wasn’t supposed to go this way, to be this good. They weren’t supposed to want each other, to feel this way, to be this hot for one another. But there was no way to stop it now. A monster like no other they had dealt with before had just been released.

“Stop. Just stop!”

Archie’s shout as he stood up in the hot tub suddenly brought Veronica and Jughead back to their reality. They had been lost in each other, completely consumed, and now nothing would ever be the same. Not for any of them.

The End.

 


End file.
